Native American identities and adaptations: Identity vs. adaptation: Manoomin and the biotech industry

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

5 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

09/23/2009

Category :

Political science

Sub category :

Social sciences

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Summary :

Introduction
University of Minnesota's experiment
Marketing tactics used by the California companies
White Earth reservation in Minnesota
The manoomin genome
The manipulation of life
Successes of the Anishinaabeg
Main danger in genetically modifying foods
Technology involved in cultivation
Conclusion
Bibliography

Abstract

In the migration story of the Anishinaabeg, prophets told the tribe to follow a shell in the sky from near the Pacific Ocean to a land "where the food grows on the water [LaDuke 2007]." There, the Anishinaabeg, named Ojibwe or Chippewa by whites, found manoomin, which the whites named wild rice. manoomin translates to 'the most wondrous seed' in Anishinaabemowin and is the only indigenous grain to North America [LaDuke Jul/Aug 2007.] manoomin is the most sacred food to the Anishinaabeg and the basis of their economy, and they regard the rice as their "relatives with roots [LaDuke Oct 2007]."

In 2000, plant geneticists at the University of Minnesota cracked the DNA sequence of manoomin, opening the door to the possibilities of genetic contamination, seed slavery, and the eventual extinction of the Anishinaabeg staff of life. To the Anishinaabeg, reengineering and patenting manoomin is not only environmentally and economically disastrous, but akin to experimenting with the DNA of their parents and children. The biotech industry's attempt to adapt and conquer such an important part of Anishinaabeg identity has been met with solid, informed resistance from within the native community, but the battle is far from over.